Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate generally to an image display method and apparatus and, more particularly, to an image display method and apparatus that enhance visual comprehensibility of a foreground image by adjusting the brightness of the background image when the foreground image overlaps with the background image.
Discussion of the Background
Advances in display technology have enabled popularization of various display devices. For example, display devices are employed by a variety of user terminals such as a mobile communication terminal, a navigation system, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a portable multimedia player (PMP). Such terminals provide a graphical user interface (GUI), which is normally designed in the product development process.
In particular, the GUI of a modern mobile terminal is designed to be editable for customization and personalization. For example, the user of a mobile terminal may change the background image set in the idle screen if desired. The mobile terminal may display, for example, a calendar as a foreground image that overlaps with a background image. If the mobile terminal is equipped with a touch screen, the terminal may display a content image as a foreground image and may play back a corresponding content when the content image is touched. In such a case, comprehensibility or readability of the content image may be important. When a content image has poor comprehensibility, the user may have difficulty in identifying the content indicated by the content image. Hence, it is necessary to develop strategies to enhance visual comprehensibility when images (e.g., a foreground image and a background image) are displayed in an overlapping manner.